


Heavy is the Heart

by fourdaysofrain



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, light on the comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:26:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23693866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fourdaysofrain/pseuds/fourdaysofrain
Summary: He had to find something to protect his identity. He wouldn’t be able to explain being in Tony’s personal lab. Peter’s eyes darted around the room, searching for something that could help him. His breath hitched when he landed on what he needed.Of course,he thought.Nothing can ever be easy.---Peter tries on a suit.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 31
Kudos: 163





	Heavy is the Heart

The lab felt colder now. 

Tony had always kept it on the cooler side so that none of the machinery would overheat, but now the whole room felt like it was covered in a thin layer of ice and dust. 

Peter could still feel the ghost of warmth from Pepper’s hand from where she rubbed his shoulder after unlocking the door for him. 

_ Tony kept it exactly the same,  _ she had said.  _ Even when we moved upstate. He always knew you were going to come back. _

Well, here he was. 

He was just here to pick up some textbooks he left behind last time he was here. Either five years or a week ago. Pepper and May made it clear he could visit as often as he wanted, so he could take his time. He didn’t even know what that meant. Take his time on what, picking up old metal scraps?

He ran a finger along his old desk and frowned at the streak left on the surface. Yeah, exactly the same is right. Tony had always been stringent about letting people into the lab, and that apparently included cleaners. 

They never had to worry about dust before. That was new. 

Peter was only there, carefully searching for his textbooks, for a few minutes before he heard a loud crash from below. 

He huffed out a sigh and wiped his hands on his jeans. 

There weren’t any employees in the building, Pepper had told him that on the way over. Not even FRIDAY was active. The entire building had been shut down until the rest of the world got used to the sudden population increase. The only people here were him and Pepper, who was probably waiting for him downstairs. He should go check on her and see what caused that noise. 

His hand was almost touching the door when he heard faint voices coming down the hall. He softly pressed his ear against the door to eavesdrop. 

“You’re sure we can get in?” a voice asked. 

A gruff chuckle sounded in response. “You gotta trust me. This tech is cutting edge. A lot can change in five years, you know.” 

“I’m just saying, Stark seems like the type of guy to protect his stuff. How do we know there isn’t more security?”

“He hasn’t been here in years,” the other voice responded. “His wife being here was a fluke. Stark went off the grid way before he killed himself.”

“Good thing he kept you on the payroll, eh?”

Peter sucked in a sharp breath and stumbled away from the door as they continued. He probably had thirty seconds before they reached the door, and who knows how long it would take them to get in. 

His brain ran over what he knew. They did something to Pepper. They were going to break into the lab. His suit was currently hanging up in his closet. He didn’t even bother to bring his web-shooters. 

He had to find something to protect his identity. He wouldn’t be able to explain being in Tony’s personal lab. Peter’s eyes darted around the room, searching for something that could help him. His breath hitched when he landed on what he needed. 

_ Of course _ , he thought.  _ Nothing can ever be easy _ . 

He let his eyes bounce around the room, looking for any other option, but time was running out. He skidded across the lab and leaped behind Tony’s desk, grabbing a chunk of metal from its surface and slapping it to his chest. 

By the time he hit the ground, Peter was wearing an Iron Man suit. 

Nanoparticles had been a project of Tony’s ever since they came back from Germany. He had just perfected them a few weeks before… all that. Peter remembered his infectious excitement the day he made the first working prototype. Now he was the one wearing it. 

The UI flicked into view. It was too much. He gathered his knees in his arms from under Tony’s desk where he was kneeling. While he was screwing his eyes shut, the door to the lab slammed open. 

“I’m telling you I heard something,” came a clear voice from the entrance. 

_ Deep breaths, deep breaths.  _

“You didn’t hear shit, you’re being paranoid.”

_ C’mon Peter, you can do this. Open your eyes.  _

“I’m just saying, the goddamn CEO was here. You really think she comes here alone?”

Peter finally opened his eyes to peer through the mask. Although he could only see the bottom of Tony’s desk, the UI overlayed everything with a neon glow. FRIDAY was only put in the active suits, but the ghost of her remained in the prototype. 

Peter took another slow, deep breath. Yep. FRIDAY was the only ghost he had to worry about. 

Best case scenario, they wouldn’t find anything valuable and would just leave.

“Wait a second.” Peter froze at how close the voice was to him. “Why does a tech billionaire have a high school biology textbook?”

Peter bit back a sigh. Of course, he had left his textbook on Tony’s desk. When has his life been anything but the worst case?

He counted down slowly. 

“You’re kidding. The fuck?”

_ Three. _

“I swear, come look at this.”

_ Two.  _

“Christ, this is straight out of my son’s class.” Both of the voices were coming from the other side of the desk now. ”Did Stark have a secret kid or something?”  
That’s his cue. 

Peter pushed the desk up, knocking over the two men. He flung his hand out at one of them, then flinched at the blast that fractured the desk. 

Right, no webs. He had to do this the old fashioned way. 

By the time he looked up from his hand, one of the men had already scrambled out from under the desk’s remains. He lunged at him blindly while the other struggled with the desk. 

Peter slammed his hand into the man’s head before his fist could make contact with the armor and winced at how quickly he dropped. 

The other man showed his empty hands and started rambling as soon as Peter looked over at him. “Look, I don’t want to fight you. This was all Harrison’s shitty idea, I knew it was bad from the start.”

Peter sighed, blandly noting the metallic edge the helmet gave the sound. He just needed to get rid of these guys so he could take off the suit. 

The men weren't built like most of the people Peter faced. They were scrawny. Peter didn’t want to hurt them. He spotted a roll of duct tape on the floor and motioned for the man to grab it. He picked it up and held it out to Peter. 

“Alright, hands behind your back.” Peter flinched at how familiar his voice sounded through the suit. 

It took him a few times to tear off the duct tape once he sufficiently wrapped the man’s wrist due to how much his hands were shaking. 

_ It’s just the adrenaline.  _

“Are there any more of you?” Peter asked, hoping the suit covered up his nervous lilt. 

The man fidgeted in place. “Just one. Jesse. He’s looking after the girl. He’s chicken-shit, though.” He sneered at the unconscious man on the ground. ”He only has a knife because Harrison was so sure the whole place’d be empty.” He moved his gaze to his feet. ”Jesus. I’m going to prison.”

Peter shifted his weight, still loosely holding the man’s wrists. 

“I just got back and now I’m going to fucking prison.”

Peter was going to vomit. He couldn’t do this right now. This was too much. 

He carefully moved the man down to the floor, trying to tune out what he was saying. He finally got out of the lab and fell into the wall, hands scrambling at his neck until the helmet of the suit finally receded. 

_ Breathe in, hold, breathe out.  _

Holy shit, he felt like he was having an asthma attack. He didn’t know how long he was leaning against the wall, trying to control his breathing. 

Finally, the racing in his chest calmed down and the static on the edges of his vision faded away. He just had to wear the suit for a few more minutes and then he could take it off forever. He could do this. The helmet slid back over his face as he pushed himself off of the wall. 

Keeping to the sides of the hallway, Peter retraced his steps back to the lobby where Pepper had been waiting for him. He peered around the final corner to see her standing with her hands raised, while the third intruder, Jesse, had a knife pointed at her. Jesse had his back to where Peter was standing. 

Peter leaned back behind the corner to take one final deep breath.

He jumped out into the lobby. As he ran towards Jesse, who had dropped the knife in surprise, the rockets in the suit’s boots flicked on. He was flying, shakily enough. From six inches off the ground, he managed to tackle Jesse to the ground, narrowly missing Pepper. 

Peter carefully stood up, trying to not step on Jesse, who was already out cold. He looked over to Pepper, who was frozen in shock. 

The suit made his footsteps echo through the room as he walked over to her.

“Are you okay, Ms. Potts?”

“You’re…” Pepper trailed off to graze her hand on the helmet’s metal cheek, her eyes shining. 

Peter knew how it must look to her. He was wearing the Iron Man suit. Tony and him were around the same height. He just saved a grieving widow wearing her dead husband’s armor. 

“Sorry, it’s--” Peter saw her hand stiffen as the helmet receded. The rest of the armor followed suit, retreating into the housing unit on his chest. “It’s just me. Just Peter.”

“Peter.” Pepper closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him. “Oh, Peter.”

The metal on his chest seemed to burn with his eyes as he stood there, motionless. 

Pepper slowly ended the hug, keeping one hand on his shoulder and the other cupping his cheek. Peter forced himself to not flinch away. 

“He’d be proud of you.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic I've written since mid-February, so sorry if it's a little rusty around the edges!  
> Everything just kind of started happening at once, and I always had the time and motivation to write at conflicting times. But I wanted to say a ginormous thank you to everyone who kept supporting me while I was away! This fandom is so kind <3  
> (Also no, in my time away I did _not_ learn how to do endings any better haha)  
> Follow me on Tumblr! [@spider-beep](https://spider-beep.tumblr.com/)


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